I recently saw a news article with a picture from Time Magazine as its cover. The picture featured a Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten Glezman on its May cover. Yes, that is correct, an openly gay “married” man is attempting to run for President of the United States. My mouth dropped, but then, my heart sunk. Has America really stooped to such levels of depravity?
I was taken to prayer very quickly after reading this article. Deep and heartfelt cries began to pour out of me. I saw a vision of a wall with the watchmen hanging over the top of it as if they were drunk. As I looked at the vision longer, I realized that they were drunk on the false gospels of America and were no longer actively reporting on the dangers ahead. These false gospels have allowed the moral walls of Christianity to be broken down.
The ‘watchman’ in the Bible is defined as one who peers out into the distance and keeps watch for approaching danger, and then they are to warn those who are in danger. The word refers to the king’s guards or to those who look out from a tower in the city wall. Other times the word refers to spiritual watchmen or prophets who look out and see the spiritual danger.
Many churches today are filled with easy listening messages designed to take up twenty minutes of our time and make us feel good. These types of church services have lulled the watchmen to sleep as well as the type of churches that mingle new age with the Bible. The world is filled with a variety of people with diverse ways of worshipping and serving God. In and of itself, this is not a bad thing, but when the Bible is not preached and taught in its fullness, these diversities can bring contamination within the church.
God is Holy; We are to Be Holy
The Bible, from the beginning of Genesis to the last page of Revelation, are connected, and we cannot have one without the other. God has designed His written and mysterious word in such a way that He as Yahweh, and Jesus Christ as Yeshua, are intertwined and revealed all throughout it. The Bible is a gift from God. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2Ti 3:16-17 NIV
Everything we need to know that has anything to do with this life and godliness is in the knowing of Jesus Christ. His divine power has given to us all things that [pertain] to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, - 2Pe 1:3
Let us look at a couple of truths that are brought from the old covenant into the new covenant.
We are a holy people in Christ Jesus;
15 but as He who called you [is] holy, you also be holy in all [your] conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." - 1Pe 1:15-16 NKJV
For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. - 1Th 4:7 NKJV
For I [am] the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I [am] holy. - Lev 11:45 NKJV
One of the purposes for the Israelites being chosen was to bring forth the Messiah, Jesus Christ. They were called to a high purpose of following God and His commandments, but they failed time and time again. Just as the Israelites were called to be a kingdom of priests, so are we. As such, there remains a call to holiness in God’s people who, through the Spirit of God, now have the law written on their hearts and minds. (Jer 31:33).
We are a treasured and special possession with purpose;
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. - 1Pe 2:9 NIV
Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations--as it is today. - Deu 10:15 NIV
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." - Exo 19:5-6 NIV
and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. - Rev 1:6, 5:10 NIV
The Levite tribe was given the priestly duties for serving God. One of those duties was to make the blood sacrifices according to the tradition of the laws. Today we know there is no longer a need for such sacrifices because we have the only blood sacrifice ever needed, Jesus Christ.
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] confession. - Heb 4:14 NKJV
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus and the cross we now have a High Priest, the only one ever needed who is seated in the heavenlies and intercedes for us. He has made a way to the holy of holies, the throne room, where we can obtain mercy and grace through His blood. The Levite priests were the only ones who could enter into this holy of holies, but the fulfillment of that righteous priestly duty came through Jesus Christ and He made us a royal priesthood!
Tainted Watchmen
The watchmen in the Church are to be the voice of God. They can come in many forms, but they always come with an alarm from the throne of God. They come with an understanding of God’s will and heart in any specific circumstance. The watchmen of today have many different gifting’s and callings, but the steady and sure watchmen are intercessors with a prophetic voice and a discerning spirit to see and know when danger is approaching. They must be brave and willing to blow the trumpet when danger lurks.
The problem is that watchmen have been greatly ignored in the church as well as the prophets. People in leadership seldom take a prophetic watchman’s word to heart, often they pat them on the back and say “don’t worry about it now, you told someone.” There is some truth that if a servant within the body of Christ gives a word to leadership, they can be released afterward because they do not have an audience to give the word to. I don’t think God will hold this type of watchmen accountable for the disasters that may come if the warning isn’t given by the leaders they shared it with. A watchman
without a platform only has a small sphere of which to release the warning. It is not the same for those who hold a pulpit position or a place of authority in the church.
This is a big world with a lot of people; therefore, we can rest assured that all of the watchmen are not in the five-fold ministry positions. Even so, they have a voice because they are pressed into deep intercession and hear the Father’s voice. They should not be ignored, and it would even be wise for church assemblies to gather their watchmen and appoint them.
The Shepherd Watchman - A Warning to the Pulpit Leadership
Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: Eze 3:17
Ezekiel was made a watchman by God for the house of Israel. The word house refers to a variety of areas, not just the church. It refers to a dwelling habitation, an area of land, people, a place where light and darkness are, a household (family) and descendants as an organized body.
18 "When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 "Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 21 "Nevertheless if you warn the righteous [man] that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul." - Eze 3:18-19, 21 NKJV
We are to warn both the sinner and the righteous of the way they take that may lead to destruction. If the sinner is not in the church pew, then we must find a way to get our voice heard in the market place.
Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. Jude 1:23 NLT
When the soul of an individual is in danger because the overseer of the flock doesn’t share the truth, that soul’s life is partially on his hand. If you are a Pastor, Prophet, Teacher, Evangelist, or Apostle, Bishop, or Elder, then you have a platform of leadership that requires you to shout the alarm. God will hold His leaders accountable to His truth. We must be brave and courageous in these times, diligent to present yourself approved to God, not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2Ti 2:15).
You are not allowed to sit quietly by and build your own kingdom with God’s word and His funds, yet neglect His people! If you are of this kind of shepherd then be warned and reminded that God does not change, He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He will bring correction to His shepherds, and for their sake, I pray they hear, listen, obey, and repent quickly.
A prayer of repentance,
Heavenly Father, I regret to speak the words I must speak, but they are the truth and burn within my soul. I have sinned against You in such a way as to use Your gospel for my own gain. I realize that I have neglected to sound the trumpet and warn the people of the impending disasters that lay ahead for a country that has turned so far from You. I have not used my voice as the effective force it could be against sin. I ask Your forgiveness today and for Your help to begin to speak up against the lawlessness that abounds in this nation. I know that I have been oppressed by a man fearing spirit and need help getting unwound from its web of deceit. Raise up Holy Spirit within me and fight on my behalf, strengthening my spirit so that I can run this race and hear in the end “well done, good and faithful servant.” In Jesus name, Amen
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